Shutter Speed

With shutter speed your basically controlling the time length in which it takes the camera to capture the photo. If you slow it down , light and other objects can be caught at its best while in motion and create interesting photos. When capturing a city and you want to capture moving objects shutter speed should be turned down and be the first alteration made, because it makes capturing light in motion more interesting. Creating the following photos was cool because I was learning something new and it was almost as if we were creating our photo. My favorite picture was the 2nd one, where I am standing by a group partner and outlining him with the light from the cell phone, and it creates this allusion or aura around him.

Aperture

Aperture basically involves the zoom effects, in which by lens, and how much it can capture within the photo. The top picture utilized larger aperture than the bottom. It consisted of a lower number or bigger hole, which blurs the background and captures the emphasis in the photo. Where as the bottom picture utilized a larger number and smaller hole which caught the overall background and emphasized on the chess pieces as a whole instead of one specific one like the top photo

ISO

As seen in the following selection of pictures, the lighting of the lights, held by Miss Cook are continuously changing in definition and contrast. The ISO is another camera tool utilized that uses the natural lighting in the environment but it emphasis more so on the definition of the light to avoid using flash that would eliminate the actual lighting, such as the christmas lights in my pictures.

Flash

The pros of utilizing the flash tool on a camera is that it can add light to dark places or subjects, it freezes time and eliminates blur. However, the cons of utilizung this tool is that if your subject is a animal or child the effect may disturb your subject and photo, the lighting situations create unattractive compositions as far as definition of the object and its visual details and if taken of a person it can create red eyes and distracting reflections such as glares. People often think that flash is best used in the dark and not when taking a daytime picture, when it is actually the exact opposite. Flash is best used in the daytime to avoid and eliminate unnecessary shadows upon your subject from the sun. Flash is best avoided at night or in the dark so natural lighting or lights within the photo can be better exposed and the definition of the picture isn't ruined, since it eliminates rich colors of the photo which may be what your relying on.

In the following photo the lighting of the city is what is captured and if flash were used to take this picture the lights would not be evident. The buildings wouldn't have such great definition of colors and reflections of the sky and surrounding scenery. However, as displayed the cars at the bottom are blurred because of the lack of flash, but it contricutes to the scene of the picture. The cars being blurry don't ruin the picture but that is the example of what can happen when not utilizing flash and attempting to capture a moving object.

Metering

Light metering basically, helps create lighting in dark spaces, utilizing the natural or surrounding composition of lighting within the environment. As seen in the following pictures one is darker than the other. Because each picture was taken differently but with the same camera tool. The lighter one utilized the skin of my partner Erica and the darker utilized the focus of the computer screen. Spot metering in the future can help me when needing to take a picture and trying to avoid unattractive composition with flash within a photo, I know I can simply utilize the metering method.

Surrealism: "The Other Side"

1) Interpret the dream

Based on this piece, one can see that this individual has been dreaming a series of dreams that have been reflecting her life. The top of the piece signifies pure enlightenment and improvement, in which it is the diamond the finding of one’s, complete self. The tree means new growth and accomplishments; the elevators propose a moving up in status or wealth, the eyes of the photo reflect enlightenment. But in contradiction there is a wall surrounding all these symbolic objects which reflect limits and boundaries. But even more interesting is there are stairs that lead to all this in which they symbolize progression and a higher level of understanding. The whole bottom of the picture reflects the top which represents the true self, so with the whole bottom half progresses to be black and white as it continues down the photo. Black and white within a dream proposes depression and an imbalance. And beneath the stairs are space which indicates “spacing out” and a need to regain focus.

The following individual is very bright and enlightening on the exterior but either feels they aren’t doing their best or they appear to be enlightening and actually aren’t doing their best. They have a lot of chaotic thoughts that distract their focus and they are trying if not completely gaining their way back to the top. It is taking a while and sometimes they feel like they are still lingering at the bottom and still sell their self short, however this person basically needs to stop focusing on being their worst critic and try being their best overall.

Surreal Practice Tutorials

In order to make the following photos appear realistic, we had to distort the ground of the desert so it could appear as if we were looking at it from a angle and actually there in the picture. We also had to give the light post a distinct shadow and cut off some of the bottom so it looked more placed in the ground. We also had to create a special paint brush that made our clouds seem more real and doing so we also had to make sure we changed up the size and type of cloud we used with each time we used the brush. With the eyr we had to make sure we used the proper blending options and opacity that would make the wall appear realistically within the wall. We had to blend the gradient and color in the eye so that color seemed also as if a realistic color. We also dodged and burned the plant so it would cast shadows within itself from the lighting with in the picture, a shadow for the butterfly was also necessary to make sure the butterfly was provided with the proper realistic setting.

Blending the eye color with the eye itself then again with the wall will help me more with making my surreal picture appear real. As far as creating environments as we did in this tutorial will better me with this project as well.

Art Show: My Future

My last project, a quilt square called “My Future” is my best project by far, it depicts my future the way I want it but with a mysterious concept. The sky is dramatic and cloudy which represents a storm and chaos a long with a lot of indecisiveness. But despite the storm I am walking up rugged stairs, which have engraved in them my dreams according to how I have them planned. But at the top of the stairs I have a big rose which means despite everything I plan to head towards my passion. Throughout the sky are also music notes and little images of me in contemplative positions, since that is what gets me by everyday. On the side of the picture is also a picture of me sitting in a cloud looking really stressed. My future is my best project and of this entire year what I am most proud of. Throughout the year with each project there is evident progress in my work and creativity and this piece gives a brief summary of everything I have learned this year and how far I have come along since the beginning.

Graduation Program

When critiquing my own work compared to that of my peers, I feel as though, I may not have grasped the concept as much as I could. And focused too much on being different and not cliche rather than the actual expectations. And though mine was a good idea, it still did not turn out to be the best of its potential. I think I could of tried to stay within the boundaries of a regular graduation program. Graphic design was not as hard as I made it out to be, I have had previous experience with this concept, with designing websites for companies through internships and so on. But for some reason, I think just the overall bland topic of it being for Cesar Chavez High School is what caught me, because even when I was doing work for other companies, I still had creativity leeway that allowed me to utilize my potential.

The most important of Graphic Design would be the message and theme of it overall, in society it's what encourages people to buy and sell products. Everything is based on image, so first impression is key.

Si Se Puede / Academic Letters

When it comes to art, I work best when going by own rules and trying to capture my own visual. But I would say after reviewing all the work of my peers, I could of attempted to grasp the clients visual or expectations a bit better. I think through out this selection of works, one can see that I struggled with creating what they wanted and how I felt it should of been. I think one strength that both of my program creations had was that they weren't random and completely off chart, they followed what could of been a possible consideration by far, I saw some work that I felt had nothing to do with the theme of academics, so I think I did alright in that category.

Personal Quilt

Outside
Inside



Past

Future

In the beginning of the project I had no idea how I wanted to do anything I had a somewhat visual and knew that I wanted it to be really creative and really grasp me, but I had no idea how I would do that. My first quilt square that I did was my “Inside Me”, where we had to make a quilt square based on what goes on inside you as far as wants, thoughts, beliefs etc. I’m someone who spends a lot of time thinking and stressing as you will learn through out the rest of my squares so I made my “Inside Me” with the theme of me looking up at my dreams that’s something that is a continuous thought for me, what I want and how I’m going to get it are all daily questions that I ask myself. My 2^nd quilt square I did was “my past”, it was the easiest and I think a bit too easy. I just took the cliché concept of pictures of my past and made it into a collage with music notes in the background at first, but I needed a creative touch to it, so I started on my “Outside Me” until I got more ideas, and it worked like a charm. Despite the fact that I think that “My Past” quilt square is my weakest of all, it isn’t bad, it grasps me as a young girl and has a all black picture of me filled with what “my past” with held and makes me, me today. My “Outside Me” turned out the same but with a moon and stars background which gave me an idea for my last quilt “My Future”, which was by far the best.

My last quilt square “My Future” is my best quilt square it depicts my future the way I want it but with a mysterious concept. The sky is dramatic and cloudy which represents a storm and chaos a long with a lot of indecisiveness. But despite the storm I am walking up rugged stairs, which have engraved in them my dreams according to how I have them planned. But at the top of the stairs I have a big rose which means despite everything I plan to head towards my passion. Throughout the sky are also music notes and little images of me in contemplative positions, since that is what gets me by everyday. On the side of the picture is also a picture of me sitting in a cloud looking really stressed. My future was my best and of this entire project what I am most proud of. Throughout the project you can see in order how I get better with each quilt square.

Artist Statement

In my portfolio one can view a selection of photos taken or created by me and my partner over the course of this semester. My portfolio is very creative as it demonstrates various compositional tricks that have been learned over time and practiced to master such photos. Through out all that we learned in this semester, I feel I have done exceptionally well with Drawing With Light, a compositional trick in which one must utilize natural effects form the environment such as shadows to add emphasis and quality to a photo. I also learned more than I already had experienced with the software, Photoshop, as we used it to add more effects to our photos.

Through out the semester, I feel that my biggest challenge came when I had to be the model in a project. I do better taking pictures, than I do being in the picture, because I can’t see what the photographer does. Another challenge was when dealing with the compositional trick Macro, in which close up shots are taken to master and capture every small detail of a simple emphasis. I couldn’t exactly think of anything in the school that would be artistic in my eyes, when up close.

Since the beginning of the semester, I feel as though my photography skills have improved and I notice a good photo almost anywhere. When I take or see a photo anywhere I can identify compositional tricks and see what they used or focused on to make the photo as they did. I think that my artwork has improved and my computer skills with Photoshop has gotten better as well.

Personal Words

The lyrics I chose for this project are "Day N Nite" by Kid Cudi



"Day n nite. I toss and turn, I keep stressin’ my mind, mind. I look for peace, but see I don’t attain. What I need for keeps this silly game we play, play. Now look at this. Madness the magnet keeps attracting me, me. I try to run, but see I’m not that fast. I think I’m first but surely finish last, last. ‘Cause day n nite, The lonely stoner seems to free his mind at nite. He’s all alone through the day n nite"

I chose these lyrics because they remind me a lot of myself. In my spare time I think about everything all through the hours of the night. I also take long walks at night just to clear my head often. I keep a

Social Issue: "TORN"

In my photo I am standing in a stance as if I'm in misery and wishing things were easier.. The sky is grey and dramatically dark and light, which gives off a sense of change or undecisive mood. Photos of my dad and I are on one side and on the other side my mom and I are in the sky. The photos are cracked as if destroyed, there is a gloomy mood over the picture and there are dramatic words that spell "torn" going down the middle that divide the picture.

The photo displays the impact decisions decided by parents can have on children. I relate to this because I am a witness to this issue. Once a home has been divided the life of the parents may change for the better, but the children are often left in the wind to decide their own outcome. Parents often get so caught up in trying to get better with life and eliminate all flaws whether it be their spouse or job they forget to consider the lives of their children and the child is left to make their own decisions because no one else is there to make them. This issue means a lot to me because it explains a lot about me and why I am the way I am.

Scary Effects

I can't exactly decide which picture was my favorite. However, I liked creating the vampire picture more than I did the alien because I had trouble creating the lines that was spiraling out of the tentacles on my face. I learned more about the burn tool and that was my most favorite to work with, I like the results. I think I did well on the vampire with the blood, at first when creating the blood I was sort of at a loss because I was using the brush in a different way than usual, but I eventually got the hang of it. Based on a prior internship with web designing I know that Photoshop and these type of effects are used when creating graphics and websites on the internet.

Formal Critique

In this photo, a man dressed in what would be considered semi-formal wear is walking across a field. The significance of the photo however, is that the man is holding half filled small bags with water, while walking in the direction of a wide fire in the process of destroying a wide area of land. The photo overall gives off a disastrous tone and makes the viewer get the feeling of what one would feel after receiving sight of a disastrous catastrophe. All the land in the picture has been tarnished and burned and all lays flat. What should be sky is covered by the smoke and fog with a reflection from the fire. There is not one hint of color in the destroyed land or picture. The man is the only living thing in the picture along with the bags of water he contains. The bags are all hanging from a string and seem to be all connected and intertwined with one other, covering his body as he drags and lets them dangle from his body. What stood out as a second priority emphasis to me was that there is clearly not enough water to put out the disastrous fire or anything this man can do to bring back the land already destroyed or getting ready to be destroyed but still the man does what he can as he strides across the dead land.

Photographic Effects

Out of all the tricks we learned I like the glow it gives the picture a sophisticated look. I would like to explore more with the colors and overlay type of tricks. I will probably also utilize the healing tool, I never knew what was used to correct natural issues such as blemishes and etc. I like discovering the difference appearances in the contrast of my photos.

Portraits

I feel I did best with taking the "Prop" and "Artistic" portrait. My artistic picture is drawn with light and captures the emphasis of the light perfectly. The mood is contemplative, and I feel as though that is captured perfectly. In the Prop portrait we utilized James in his football uniform with his helmet. The picture captures the domination and dedication involved with the sport. The surprise photo I feel could of been better, and in fact my Artistic may have been more of a Surprise than the photo. The hardest task of this project was finding a prop for me, I could not think of anything to bring out ... me.

Contact Sheet

Out of all compositional tricks, my favorite was the drawing light. I feel out of all my pictures I really mastered that task. The most difficult simplicity because when in my regular day-to-day photographs I usually use the environment to bring attention to the emphasis so it was difficult for me to reverse that mindset. However, I am pretty sure I will use drawing with light in my day-to-day pictures.

Compositional Trick #8 Fill in Flash

Whrn using Compositional Trick #8, Fill in Flash, lighting from the camera is utilized to either lighten the emphasis or draw emphasis to the surrounding environment. When in a dark space and flash is off the emphasis' surrounding will be brought to more attention then the dark emphasis, but once the flash is turned on the emphasis is more visible and now the surrounding and emphasis are both visible more clearer.